Twisted Hearts.

Chapter TwoShadows of the Past

The morning crept in beneath gray clouds and city smog, but sleep never came. Aurora sat cross-legged on the floor of her old apartment, an open notebook on one side and her laptop whirring softly on the other. The decrypted files were slowly unraveling like a spool of wire—page after page of names, fund transfers, surveillance footage, lab data, and code she barely understood.

Kael had crashed on the couch just before dawn, gun in hand even as he slept. His breathing was steady, but his brow furrowed with silent battles—ghosts that chased him even in dreams.

Aurora knew better than to wake him. She didn’t need another argument, not right now. What she needed were answers.

And she was getting closer.

One file caught her attention—Project Callidus.

It wasn’t mentioned directly in any Valkyrie logs, but the funding routes were suspicious. Shell companies, offshore accounts, and a common thread: a name she'd circled twice already.

Senator Royce Leland.

A powerful voice in national defense. Clean-cut. Family man. The kind of politician people trusted—exactly the kind of man who could hide a monster behind a smile.

“Leland,” she whispered, tapping the name. “You’re hiding something.”

Behind her, Kael stirred.

“You found him,” he muttered without opening his eyes.

She turned. “How long have you known?”

Kael sat up slowly, running a hand through his disheveled hair. “Too long. But every time I got close, someone disappeared. Witnesses, whistleblowers, even agents. Valkyrie isn’t just a failed project—it’s a cover for a network. Blackmail. Assassinations. Biological experiments.”

Aurora’s stomach twisted. “And my father?”

Kael met her eyes. “He wasn’t just a casualty. He was the linchpin. The program collapsed when he died… and someone’s trying to rebuild it.”

Her breath hitched. “And you think Leland is behind it?”

“I know he is.”

Aurora stood, pacing. “We need proof. Not just this mess of files—something concrete. Something that’ll stand in court, or the press, or… whatever gets this exposed.”

Kael stood too, his jaw tight. “There is something. A facility. Off-grid. Nevada. That’s where they moved the core data—hard copies, test subjects, prototypes. Your father’s real work. The kind no one was supposed to see.”

Aurora stopped. “You want to break into a government black site?”

He shrugged. “It’s not exactly government anymore. That’s what makes it dangerous.”

She laughed once, dry and sharp. “Of course it is.”

A beat passed, and then—

“I’m coming with you,” she said.

Kael raised an eyebrow. “You sure?”

She didn’t hesitate. “He was my father. This is my mess, too.”

He walked toward her, that old Kael fire burning in his eyes. “Then pack light.”

“What happens if we get caught?”

Kael’s smile was crooked, reckless, and undeniably familiar. “Then at least we die telling the truth.”

For a second, something between them cracked open—something wild, familiar, and painfully alive. But neither moved.

The moment passed.

Kael grabbed his duffel bag from the floor. “We leave at nightfall.”

Aurora closed the laptop, pocketed the flash drive, and stared out the window.

She wasn’t the same girl Kael left behind.

And this time, she wasn’t running.

She was going to finish what her father started.

Even if it killed her.

The silence between them lingered, thick with the ghosts of old wounds and unspoken regrets. Aurora grabbed her phone and tapped out a message to her contact in D.C.—a former colleague from her days shadowing her father’s research work. If anyone could pull satellite images or access logistics traffic near a ghost facility in Nevada, it was Theo.

> A: Need eyes on restricted sector west of Tonopah. Confirm convoy traffic, heat signatures, and any sudden blackouts in communication.

T: You in trouble again, Blake?

A: The dangerous kind. Don’t ask questions. Just send what you find.

T: You got it. Ten hours tops.

Kael glanced over. “That Theo?”

She nodded. “Still owes me from the Panama intel leak.”

Kael snorted. “That’s because you saved his job. And his dog.”

Aurora didn’t smile. Not really. But her lips twitched.

Kael moved to the kitchen and pulled two mugs from the cabinet. “Still drink it black?”

She nodded.

He poured the coffee and handed her one, his fingers brushing hers just slightly. She pulled back quickly.

“Don’t,” she said quietly.

“Don’t what?” he asked, sipping.

“Act like everything is normal.”

“It’s not,” Kael agreed. “But we don’t have time to bleed.”

A knock at the door froze them both.

Kael dropped the mug silently and drew his gun. Aurora grabbed the USB and slid it into the seam under the floorboard she’d hidden once as a child, when playing spy games with her father.

Three more knocks. Precise. Rhythmic.

Then a pause.

Then one final knock.

Kael lowered the gun just slightly. “That’s not a threat.”

Aurora stepped forward and opened the door an inch. “Who are you?”

A woman in her thirties stood outside, her red braid tucked under a weathered leather cap. She held up a badge—except it wasn’t federal. It was… private.

“Name’s Selene Rook,” the woman said. “I was your father’s last contact. And if you two want to live past tonight, you’re going to let me in. Now.”

Kael didn’t move.

“Prove it,” Aurora said.

Selene lifted her hand and showed the small tattoo on her wrist: a phoenix wrapped in circuit lines—her father’s encryption seal, a symbol he only shared with his most trusted.

Aurora opened the door.

Selene strode in, surveying the room with hawk-like focus. “You already tripped their system. Valkyrie isn’t just watching—it's mobilizing.”

“Where?” Kael asked.

“Tonopah base. They’ve started running extra night flights. Thermal signals picked up drone surveillance in this neighborhood two hours ago. You’ve got twelve, maybe fourteen hours before this place becomes a crater.”

Aurora’s heart pounded. “So they know we’re close.”

“They know you’re alive,” Selene corrected. “And that’s enough.”

Kael didn’t flinch. “Then we move now.”

“No,” Selene said. “We can’t go in hot. The facility’s been restructured since the last breach. You’ll need an access key.”

Aurora glanced between them. “You have one?”

Selene smirked. “Not yet. But I know where to get it.”

Kael crossed his arms. “Let me guess: a black-market dealer in exchange for something impossible?”

“Not quite,” Selene said. “We steal it from someone who doesn’t even know they’re holding it.”

“Who?” Aurora asked.

Selene’s voice dropped.

“Senator Royce Leland’s daughter. She’s the access point. And we’ve got twenty-four hours before her security rotation changes.”

Aurora met Kael’s eyes. “Looks like we’re not heading west just yet.”

Kael’s jaw clenched, but he nodded.

Selene raised an eyebrow. “You two got history?”

Aurora didn’t answer. But Kael did.

“The kind that makes love feel like a loaded gun.”

The weight of Selene's words hung in the air as she slid into the chair across from Aurora and Kael. The sound of traffic from the street below was distant, muffled by the thick walls of the apartment, but in that moment, it felt as though every sound had been turned up. The tension between them was palpable—like the calm before a storm that had already begun to gather.

Kael was the first to break the silence. He leaned against the wall, his arms crossed, eyes narrowed. "Leland's daughter? How are we supposed to get close to her?"

Selene's lips twitched into a small, knowing smile. "Trust me, we don't need to get close. We just need to get to her—through someone she trusts."

Aurora leaned forward, curiosity piqued. "Who?"

"Her bodyguard," Selene said, her voice low. "A man named Thorne. Ex-military. He's been with her for years, and he's got a soft spot for women in trouble. If we can convince him that Leland's daughter is in danger, he might give us the key... willingly."

Kael raised an eyebrow. "And how do we 'convince' him?"

"That's where you two come in." Selene stood and started pacing, her boots clicking on the hardwood floor. "We leverage your past. Kael, you know how to manipulate people. Aurora, you know how to act vulnerable. Together, you can make him believe that the key is the only way to save the girl."

Aurora felt a cold shiver run down her spine at Selene's words. Using their past to manipulate someone into trusting them was something neither of them had ever done lightly. But the urgency of the situation made it clear—there was no other way.

"I'm not exactly comfortable with this," Aurora admitted, her gaze shifting to Kael.

He met her eyes, his expression unreadable. "Neither am I. But sometimes, we don't get to choose how we fight."

Selene stopped pacing and faced them both. "This is bigger than any of us. If we fail, people die. Your father was right to try and stop this. Now, it's your turn."

Aurora swallowed hard, the weight of her father's legacy crashing down on her once again. She had always been his daughter, following in his footsteps. But now, those footsteps led her to a much darker path than she had ever imagined. A path that Kael had once walked—and now, it seemed, she had no choice but to walk it with him.

"What happens after we get the key?" she asked, her voice steadier than she felt.

"We hit the Nevada base," Kael replied, pushing off the wall. "We disable the security systems, extract the data, and get out before they know what hit them."

"And Leland?" Aurora asked, her voice barely a whisper.

Kael's eyes darkened. "He'll have a lot to answer for. But we take down the network first. Leland’s just a man. A dangerous one, but a man nonetheless."

Aurora nodded, the cold sense of inevitability settling over her like a second skin. They weren’t just fighting for their lives anymore—they were fighting for something much bigger than themselves. And the closer they got to the truth, the more dangerous it became.

Selene turned toward the door, glancing back over her shoulder. "We leave at dusk. Be ready."

Aurora and Kael watched her leave in silence. Once the door clicked shut, they stood there, the weight of the decision they had made hanging between them.

Kael broke the silence. "You know what you're getting into, right? This isn’t just a job. This is war."

"I don’t have a choice," Aurora replied, her voice firmer than she felt. "No one does."

Kael studied her for a long moment, then nodded. "Then let's make sure we win."

As he turned to gather the few supplies they would need for the mission ahead, Aurora stood still, her mind racing. She had never wanted to be part of something so dark, so dangerous. But now, she had no choice. The web of lies and betrayal her father had left behind had ensnared them both, and there was only one way out.

Aurora glanced at the window, the evening sun just beginning to set, painting the city below in shades of red and orange. This was no longer just about revenge. This was about survival.

And the deeper they dug into the twisted heart of the enemy, the harder it would be to leave without losing everything.